Letters to the Editor: April 30, 2014

Letters to the Editor: April 30, 2014

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In a Pickle

I had never before written a letter to the editor, but as my last letter expressed ("Mr. Pickle vs. Hitler," April 23), the group protesting President Obama outside the Montgomery Village post office simply enraged me.

While I continue to feel sick to my stomach at the tasteless and ignorant comparison of President Obama to Hitler, I feel that my anger was misdirected at Montgomery Village.

As I reached out to the staff at the Bohemian, I also reached out to Montgomery Village. They quickly responded, and very much feel as if their hands are tied. The Montgomery Village representative whom I communicated with also found the Obama-Hitler comparison extremely offensive and was sincerely apologetic that the families in our neighborhood had to see it. Because the group sets up in front of a government office, Montgomery Village can do nothing about it.

Though Montgomery Village can't make the change I want to see, I am still hopeful that as a community we can make this group realize that the sign is taking it too far.

To everyone who has taken the time to read this: I hope that if you pass this group, you will take the time to stop, talk to them and let them know that our children should not have to be subjected to such ignorance. Be kind to them but speak up!

To Montgomery Village: Invite the pickle back to dance already. We miss him and we need a lighter vibe in Montgomery Village these days.

—Tess Kofoid

Santa Rosa

Killer Niacin

Both the headline and the text of Nicolas Grizzle's article ("Killer Corn," April 16) are quite sensational and misleading. Grizzle states: "In the mid-19th century, it was confirmed that corn was the cause of pellagra . . ." As he does go on to explain, it is the lack of niacin in a corn-based diet that causes the pellagra. Corn, eaten as part of a balanced, vitamin-rich diet, does not cause any diseases, and is not a "killer."

—Marl Kapner

San Anselmo

Welfare Cowboys

It's perversely ironic for rancher Cliven Bundy to excoriate poor people for collecting government subsidies while ripping off the federal government for a million dollars in grazing fees. But even if he were to pay up, Bundy and his fellow ranchers would still be living on government welfare.

Livestock grazing is subsidized by federal agencies on 270 million acres of public land in 11 western states to the tune of nearly $300 million annually. Monthly grazing fees per cow and calf on private rangeland average $11.90, but corresponding fees on federal lands are set at a paltry $1.35.

Even so, grazing subsidies are dwarfed by other government subsidies and the medical, environmental and other external costs imposed on society by animal agriculture. These extra costs have been estimated at $414 billion annually, or $3,600 per household.

Each of us can make our $3,600
annual contribution to the common good by replacing animal products in our diet with a rich variety of grain, nut, and soy-based meat and dairy alternatives.

—Steve Alderson

Santa Rosa

Of Players and Pliny

I could not help but notice that while Efren Carrillo was on the stand he emphasized his proclivities toward the Pliny the Elder brew by the lofted Russian River Brewery. Hmmm, was he looking for juror favor perhaps by the mere mention of this magical golden liquid? Or perhaps there is an ingredient within that holds magical powers over this E.C. the Younger.

No matter what the outcome here, this will be a win-win for Sir Christopher Adrian and E.C. the Younger. Why? Because the delays in trial proceedings have allowed Efren Carrillo to attain full vesting for pension or retirement from the county of Sonoma. Yes, the world is but a stage, and we have all been played by these two. The wheels of justice turn for those privileged few. The costs associated with this rogue politician will go on indefinitely.

—P. C. Sullivan

Santa Rosa

Beef with Oysters

I don't eat much beef or many oysters, but [Cliven Bundy], the rangeland squatter on Nevada federal land, and the oyster squatter in Point Reyes ("Shuck Stops Here," April 23) are just about identical to me. Both want to use federal land, even though they are not keeping the terms of their contracts. It's like a Putin-style land-grab. And water-grab, too. Get rid of the bums.